Journal article
Railways, Development, and Literacy in India
- Abstract:
- We study the effect of railroads, the single largest public investment in colonial India, on human capital. Using district-level data on literacy and two different identification strategies, we find railroads had positive effects on literacy, in particular on male and English literacy. We show that railroads increased literacy by raising secondary and elite primary schooling, rather than vernacular primary schooling. Our mediation analysis suggests that non-agricultural income, urbanization, and opportunities for skilled employment are important mechanisms, while agricultural income is not.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 810.0KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1017/s0022050723000372
Authors
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Journal:
- The Journal of Economic History More from this journal
- Volume:
- 83
- Issue:
- 4
- Pages:
- 1139-1174
- Publication date:
- 2023-10-26
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1471-6372
- ISSN:
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0022-0507
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
1564229
- Local pid:
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pubs:1564229
- Source identifiers:
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W4388198998
- Deposit date:
-
2026-06-01
- ARK identifier:
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Terms of use
- Copyright date:
- 2023
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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